Elam shows off a large shaggy mane.

Fantastic fall for fungi

Several weeks of adequate moisture and warm weather have turned this into a fantastic year for fall fungi.

Even a short walk in the woods is likely to turn up a giant puffball or two, or a cluster of pungent oyster mushrooms cascading down a dead tree trunk.

Football-size boletes are not uncommon, either.

Given the number of matsutakes, chanterelles and other delicacies that are popping up across the Flathead, you might say they're "mushrooming" out of control.

Jay Elam is one of the many local residents enjoying the fungal bounty. He estimates that he has harvested well over 200 pounds of mushrooms this fall.

"I've probably given a hundred pounds away," Elam said. "I've frozen them, dehydrated them, made stock from them. I can't walk by them without stopping. This is definitely one of the better years I've seen. It's easy to get carried away."

Elam has been picking mushrooms for almost 30 years. Lately, he has been gathering shaggy manes - a plump, white fungi with a parasol-like cap that he describes as a "super delicacy" with a wonderful taste and texture.

"They grow by the side of the road and on lawns," he said. "I'm finding them in neighborhoods without even trying. Life is good here in Montana."

Missoula mycologist Larry Evans, who leads spring and fall mushroom classes for the Glacier Institute, agrees that this has been an exceptional fall for fungi, primarily because of a fortuitous combination of moisture and temperature.

"A lot of times, the seasonal change here is so fast that fungi are caught short," Evans said. "This year, we've had a prolonged, warm fall and lots of moisture. That's a good combination. We have over 20 species of choice edibles available in Western Montana right now. We're finding a bunch of species that may only come up once every five to seven years."

Mushrooms are actually the fruiting body of a fungi, formed specifically to produce and distribute spores. And they do so in amazing numbers - a single giant puffball, for example, can produce more than 7 trillion microscopic spores.

The main, nutrient-gathering phase of most fungi is called the mycelium, which consists of nearly invisible, cobweb-like threads that grow underground. In many species, the mycelium form special, symbiotic relationships with the roots of trees and plants, gathering water and essential nutrients for the plant in exchange for sugars manufactured through photosynthesis.

Based on fossil evidence, some researchers believe this relationship, called a "mycorrhizal association," is what allowed plants to colonize dry land in the first place, more than 400 million years ago.

Today, it's estimated that at least 90 percent of all plants rely on mycorrhizal fungi to some degree, including most ferns, grasses, trees, bushes, agricultural crops and flowers. In some cases, the fungi contribute 80 percent or more of the water and nutrients that a plant needs to survive, and receive in turn as much as 20 percent of the atmospheric carbon that a plant absorbs.

Evans said the fall fungi extravaganza should continue until there's a hard, extended frost. And as always, people should be sure what species they have picked before they eat any mushrooms.

This fall's mushroom crop follows the widespread sprouting of morel mushrooms this spring and early summer following last year's forest fires.

Reporter Bill Spence may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at bspence@dailyinterlake.com